In the fall of 1994, the Session of the Independent Presbyterian Church ("IPC," Savannah, GA), and the Mission to North America Committee of the Central Georgia Presbytery of the PCA, decided that the east islands area of Savannah needed a PCA church. This area is a group of barrier islands going all the way to Tybee beach. The major residential areas are on Whitemarsh, Talahi, Oatland, Wilmington, and Tybee (the beach) islands. IPC felt that a church plant would be a strategic outreach to this community; so in the summer of 1995, their Session and the Central Georgia Presbytery called Rev. Marty Fields and his family to serve as the church planters for this new islands mission. In order to see this happen, IPC pledged prayer support, office space and the use of their recreational facility (known as "Point Pleasant") on Talahi island. The Central Georgia Presbytery pledged the financial backing.

The mission began with a prayer group and Bible study in the fall of 1995. At the first meeting, nine people, representing about 4 families, came together to pray and study God’s Word. Later in the year, IPC graciously agreed to let us begin to hold Sunday evening worship services at Point Pleasant. The new mission was named "Islands Presbyterian Church."

The first evening service saw approximately 35 in attendance, and on Sunday January 7, 1996, we had our first morning worship. To the utter astonishment of the core group, 120 attended this service! It was at this point that we were sure this new work was here to stay, so the church purchased its first tract of land in the fall of 1996. In the Winter of 1997 the church elected, ordained and installed three Ruling Elders and six Deacons and extended a formal call to Rev. Marty Fields to be its pastor. From that time to the fall of 1998, tremendous growth was seen as worship attendance went from an average of 120 to 175. This led the elders to the conviction that the church needed another full-time pastor, and in the summer of 1999, the session called Brad Staton to become an Assistant Pastor for assimilation and outreach.

The church also realized that the need for its own facility was growing; and in 1999, with the entire mortgage on its 12 acres of land paid off, began the quest for a new facility in April of 2000. Also, in order to eliminate confusion of identity with the Wilmington Island Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), the Session changed the name of Islands Presbyterian Church to "Grace Church of the Islands (PCA)." On June 2, 2002, the first services were held in our new facility at 6901 Concord Road. God has provided a beautiful building for Grace Church that will serve it and the islands community well into the future. The new building will seat in excess of 350 people and is also well laid out for a variety of uses.

As God was leading Grace Church, He was also working in the lives of her pastors. In the beginning of 2002, our church planter, Rev. Marty Fields, and our Associate Pastor, Rev. Brad Staton, were both being led by the Lord into new areas of ministry. Marty went to work for American Vision where he could focus more on writing and lecturing, while Brad felt called back to his hometown of Augusta, GA and the First Presbyterian Church. Though this was a difficult time for Grace, God was gracious to provide the Rev. Patrick Harmon and his family to meet our needs. Patrick had joined Grace Church in January of 2001 as our Youth Pastor, and the Lord led him to stay with us even as He led Marty and Brad to move elsewhere. Patrick graciously stepped in to fill the pulpit after Marty and Brad left, and in the process, his love for Grace and that of our congregation for him became evident. God was also growing him as a preacher of the Word; and, to Patrick’s and our pleasant surprise, God fit him to become our pastor in 2003.        We were blessed to have Patrick, his wife Kitsie, and their 5 daughters as a special part of the Grace Church family. During Patrick’s time at Grace Church, he continued to pursue and has obtained his PhD in adolescent studies. During his research, Patrick worked closely with the clinical psychology department at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Through their communications, both parties discovered an interest in the other’s knowledge of and approach to the treatment of today’s over-medicated and even addicted adolescent population; and Patrick felt the call of God leading him into this new field of work. In September 2005, he started a year of preliminary courses at Harvard and then pursue medical school, hopefully at MUSC. Though it is hard for us to lose another pastor, we are excited to see what great things God is going to do with Patrick as He uses him to take the Gospel into the world of adolescent psychology.

Meanwhile, Grace Church of the Islands found itself experiencing the severe mercy of our Lord yet again. Severe, in that He has led a third pastor away from us; but merciful in that He has led the congregation, our elders and our deacons to their knees in prayer. We found ourselves seeking Him and gaining renewed strength in Him even as we seeked to fill our pulpit another time. How privileged to be held in the hands of our sovereign, loving God!

The Pulpit Committee worked diligently on searching for a new pastor, meeting weekly and reviewing over 60 names and reducing it to one man alone to present to the congregation for nominating as Senior Pastor. On November 13, 2005 the congregation of Grace Church voted unanimously to approve Rev. T. Brannon Bowman as Senior Pastor. On December 13, 2005, again unanimously the Savannah River Presbytery approved Rev. T. Brannon Bowman for Senior Pastor of Grace Church of the Islands.  Prior to this, he served as Pastor of Monroeville Presbyterian Church in Monroeville, AL, Minister of Music and Discipleship at Young Meadows Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, AL, and Minister of Music and Worship at Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, AL. Before this, Brannon was employed as a software engineer in Huntsville. Originally from Montgomery, Brannon earned a Bachelor of Science from Birmingham Southern College, a Master of Music from Auburn University, a Master of Divinity from Birmingham Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Carol, have been married since 1990 and are the proud parents of Thomas.

We praise the Lord that He has so graciously worked in and through us to bring the Rev. T. Brannon Bowman to Grace Church to be our new Senior Pastor.